Rusian Science News

Source: www.informnauka.ru/eng

PROBLEM OF OZONE

01/15/2009

A lot of people who love to rest in the mountains are enticed, among
other things, by clear air. They do not suspect that it can contain ozone
in the concentration dangerous to health.  The problem investigation has
been sponsored by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

Further information: Valery Demin, research assistant, Polar Geophysical
Institute of Kola Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Apatity;
demin@pgia.ru, тел. (81555) 7-91-71

Quite often, the ozone content in the mountain air exceeds standards of the
World Health Organization (WHO). Specialists of the Polar Geophysical
Institute of Kola Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, are sure
that the risk of ozone poisoning limits opportunities for having rest to
the people who have certain problems with health.

It is known that ozone of the stratosphere protects everything living from
unfriendly ultraviolet irradiation of the Sun. At the same time – this is a
very toxic compound: ozone belongs to substances of the highest class of
danger, playing predominantly a negative role in the surface air.
Researchers know pretty much about mechanisms and consequences of ozone
toxic action. Ozone is the strongest oxidant, which acts on many tissues
and enzymes, it irritates upper air passages, bronchi and lungs, promotes
development of asthma, chronic pneumonia, some other respiratory system
diseases. Poisoning by ozone disturbs metabolic processes in the liver,
causes cardiovascular and nervous system lesion, decreases resistance to
infection.

General impact of ozone on a person depends on its concentration and time
of influence: the higher they are, the harder the consequences are. In
2005, the WHO recommended the standard average concentration for 8 hours of
100 microgram/m3. The concentrations exceeding 160 microgram/m3, are able,
according to the WHO data, to cause changes in the respiratory apparatus
and the lung burn even with young healthy people, the number of adverse
outcomes increasing by 3-5%.

Judging by the ozone vertical distribution data, it is apparent that the
ozone content increases with altitude. The higher in the mountains, the
more ozone is there and the higher its physiological impact on a human
being is.

Specialists from the Polar Geophysical Institute have analyzed results of
their measurements in the Hibiny Mountains and the data from 50 stations
located at the altitudes higher than 500 m in the Alps, Pyrenees,
Carpathian Mountains, Scandinavian mountains and Pennine-Chain, in the
mountains of Spitsbergen and Greenland. 

As a rule, in autumn and winter, the problem of increased ozone
concentrations in mountain regions of Europe is not urgent, at least, up to
the altitude of 3.5 kilometers. The situation changes in the frost-free
season, when, due to photochemical production of ozone in midlatitudes and
southerly latitudes, its content in the lower troposphere increases
noticeably. In the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains, the WHO standards are
regularly exceeded in that period from 20% at the altitude of 1 kilometer
and up to 50% - at the altitude of 3 kilometers.  

In the Caucasus, the problem is not so acute – the ozone content is
somewhat lower than in the mountains of central and southern Europe.
However, the WHO standards are “not adhered” either in this region. The
mountains of northern Europe (Scandinavian, Hibiny) are safer in this
respect, particularly up to the altitude of 2-3 kilometers. 

The ozone problem becomes more acute as the altitude increases. The
concentrations in the base camps at the bottom of Everest are 160-240
micrograms/m3, but at the summit they may reach 240-600 micrograms/m3. In
the surface air, the ozone content changes during day and night (as a rule,
the maximum being reached after noon and the minimum being reached at
night), and people can limit staying in the open air during the most
dangerous period.  However, there is no such opportunity in the mountains
as high concentrations of ozone at high altitudes may be preserved for
lengthy periods (for weeks). 

Mountain-climbers spend several days or even weeks at technically
complicated routes, the preparatory acclimatization period taking more than
a month. Climbers can undermine their health during that period,
significant physical activity being also contributing to that. The
researchers note such typical symptoms of the mountain disease as
breathlessness, spasmodic respiration, the respiratory tract irritation,
dry cough, headaches and retrosternal pains, cardiac abnormalities, muscle
weakness, epistaxis, nausea, decrease in acuity of vision and peripheral
field of vision, neurotic disorders and some other signs typical of ozone
poisoning. That makes us assume that high concentration of ozone, even if
it does not promote occurrence of the mountain disease, at least aggravates
its severity.

The authors emphasize that increased ozone saturation of the atmospheric
air in the mountain regions is dangerous for human beings. Ozone is toxic,
it aggravates diseases caused by staying in the mountains. The first place
here belongs to cardiac and circulation system diseases, then come
respiratory diseases, mountainous acute pulmonary edema, acute mountain
disease and acute renal impairment. The researchers believe that it is
necessary to inform people about the ozone content in the air at different
altitudes near mountain resorts and recreation centers. This information
should be taken into account when planning for climbing the summits and
organizing training in the mountains. Possibly, some people can be
contraindicated to stay in the mountains.

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